Ilkley Town Centre Performance

Premises Type

Figures include businesses with commercial premises only
An independent retailer is defined as having less that 5 branches nationally

Vacancy Rates

These graphs clearly illustrate Ilkley’s magnetic appeal for businesses, which shows no signs of slowing down! As you can see, following a record low of 6.9% (22 empty units) in December, we’re pleased to report continued progress. Our town centre vacancy rates have seen a further decrease, reaching an impressive 6% with just 19 empty units in April. This consistent downward trend is a clear indicator of Ilkley’s growing vibrancy and its strong position as a desirable location for businesses to thrive.

Data is for premises in ground floor units within the BID area.
Premises currently available to let in Ilkley are between £17.91 and £21.78 per sq m per month.

Footfall

Footfall figures for Ilkley in January & February 2025 were slightly lower than last year which maybe due to the new housing development traffic works. However, March 2025 saw a significant footfall of 422,999.
This figure represents a 4% increase compared to the previous month (February) and is 2.6% higher than the footfall recorded in March 2024.

Footfall Comparisons with neighbouring towns

Throughout January and February 2025, Ilkley’s footfall demonstrated a steady performance, consistently ranking between Otley and Skipton. With visitor numbers totalling 406,447 in January and 406,689 in February, Ilkley outpaced Otley (Jan: 298,506, Feb: 292,196) but remained slightly behind Skipton (Jan: 477,342, Feb: 492,651). In comparison, Skipton experienced a modest increase in footfall from January to February, while Harrogate recorded a slight dip in visitor numbers during the same period (Jan: 845,937, Feb: 838,762).

In March 2025, Ilkley’s footfall increased to 422,999, continuing to position it ahead of Otley, which recorded 310,829 visitors. Skipton also saw a rise in footfall to 516,062, maintaining its lead over Ilkley. Meanwhile, Harrogate experienced a notable increase in March with 909,157 visitors.